Victron Energy SmartSolar MPPT 100V 30 amp 12/24-Volt Solar Charge Controller (Bluetooth)

I upgraded from a PWM controller with a hard to read LCD status screen. The Victron is a high quality product with very good printed documentation (though the web version is much easier to read.) Works very well including the load output which handles my compressor fridge current surge just fine. The Bluetooth status monitor works with their free app. The app is not perfect, but provides the important parameters in an easy to read format at a reasonable distance. Ive only had it for 6 months, but there have been several firmware and software updates, so obviously the company is supporting the product. Tech support is provided by the seller, not the manufacturer, but Victron does have a support forum that is very helpful. There are both experienced users and factory experts answering questions.

I had a 6 year old group 27 AGM battery in my truck which was starting to die. After connecting this battery and the new Victron charge controller the battery came back to life. The algorithm of bulk, absorption and float revived this battery at a point where I did not need to replace it by a new one. I had the charge controller connected to a single 100W solar panel and occasionally hoked it up. In about 3 weeks and around 15 charges the Victron device learned and applied sort of a recovery algorithm and raised the current charge rescuing the battery. Now when I turn on the truck in the morning it feels like the battery is brand new and the battery voltage stays at a constant 12.6V every morning.

This is a true MPPT,should of gotten this a long time ago, battery even charging on a cloudy day

I had a Victron 75/15 MPPT controller that worked well but failed after 3 years. I replaced it with this, and I get more out of my 300 watt panel than I ever have before. It also has pre-sets for LiFePO4 batteries that I migrated to from AGMs in my Sprinter van. Works perfectly.

Seems to work fine. I have the SmartSense battery monitor which this uses to get accurate battery voltage and that is really helpful since I have a ~20 wire run from my solar controller to my battery. But having now owned 4 different charge controllers in the last 7-8 years, I dont think Victron is worth the extra $. Heres why: First, you get zero support. Thats right, Victron will only provide support to certified resellers, so if you have a problem and you bought from Amazon guess what? Youre SOL. In my case I believe theres a bug in their charging algorithm, but I literally cannot talk to anyone at Victron directly. (That said their community support is great, but its not the same as actual technical support). Second, some of their really useful features (like being able to monitor charge voltage over time and graph it) only work if you disable screen lock and leave your bluetooth device (phone, typically) connected and running the app. Dont change apps because your graphs will reset. Why cant this run in the background? The unit does have daily stats but that doesnt help me when Im trying to understand why charging isnt cutting out as expected. My personal issue is that I have a LiFePO4 setup (which this device does support), but I want to cut off charging on my setup when the battery hits about 90%. The Victron has several settings to shorten the absorption times, all of which seem to work when I drain the battery and need to recharge it. However if the battery doesnt get drained one day and starts off full, the unit still goes into bulk mode for several hours and ends up topping off the battery. I assume this is a charging algorithm-related problem, but its disappointing behavior and defeats the reason I purchased the device.

So far working fine on my 480 watt 48 volt panel

I have two of these connected to lead-acid deep-cycle batteries. One drives a remote bird-house camera and one powers a pump in a bird bath. They were easy to set up and the instructions are clear. They have enormous programmability. The phone app is great for checking on the battery performance, solar power level, load, etc. There are a couple of features I wish it had. One is more pre-programmed battery types. They offer a few basic battery types and a custom program of gazillions of charging parameters for experts. Im an electrical engineer and could get out the data sheet for my specific battery and program all the parameters, but what a hassle, and what if I make a mistake? It would be nice to have a few more standard lead-acid battery types in the menu. The unit has a streetlight function for turning on a light at night, but I want a general purpose timer that turns on the load in the day. That would be a small amount of software for Victron to add to the unit and the application. I want our birdbath to run only during the day. I could have used a smaller solar panel and smaller battery if this unit had a timer feature. This unit keeps a history of solar power generated and load power consumed that goes back at least a few weeks. I havent looked to see how far back it goes, but its interesting and useful to see how the panels are doing, or if the load is drawing unexpected power. It was also useful to see if my calculations were correct.

Excellent quality construction is evident. I found it very easy to set up and operate the app. I can sit in my RV and get good bluetooth reception from the unit which is located outside near the fron of my RV. It pulls in power and sends it to my lithium battery even during overcast.

The Victron 100 20 MPPT controller delivers peformance as effortlessly and efficiently as it delivers energy. This unit was connected to two 105 A-hr lead acid deep cycle batteries for storage, two 120 W Photovoltaic panels for energy capture, powering a load composed of a Dometic 95DZ dual zone fridge freezer. For the test a grocery load was simulated with two 1 gallon jugs of tap water and two ice cube trays of water to make ice. The test was begun late in afternoon on Saturday and concluded early evening on Sunday. The Victron supplied energy throughout the entire process and smoothley and effortlessly transitioned from solar power to battery. As the sun came up I was able to monitor panel voltage in real time, and began to see it slowly offset battery power, until the batteries began to charge and all power for the Dometic was supplied by panels. The test was a complete success and demonstrated to me the need to expand the system by one battery and one pannel to 345 A-hr, and 360 W solar. The Victron did extremely well and was only slightly warm at highest load condition. Thank you!

At first I ordered a budget MPPT charger, only to learn later that in order to program it to use a Lithium battery required ordering another part, which makes it not such a bargain after all. After reading reviews on Victron stating how easy this model is to program, I decided to try one for myself. It was indeed very easy to setup the unit on my iPhone, and switch the default setting to lithium. I enjoyed watching the charge history from day to day. The Bluetooth connection is strong enough to connect from pretty far away. Im really enjoying using the application. The solar charger is working great. Id definitely buy one again.